The term “scavenging” can conjure up all sorts of negative opinions, but its the folks of this world who make use what others throw away who are real environmental heroes.

Thankfully, (responsible) scavenging is now becoming a little more accepted and there’s quite a few veteran scavengers willing to share their knowledge.

I was recently contacted by Anneli Rufus and Kristan Lawson; authors of The Scavengers Manifesto, a new handbook for the scavenging movement. Anneli and Kristan are full-time scavengers, having made a lifestyle out of getting stuff (legally) without spending a cent

Their latest project: to grow at least half their food this year in a garden that costs exactly nothing to maintain.

Their “No-Cost Gardening” project will create and nurturing a vegetable garden using totally free scavenged seeds and supplies.

Anneli and Kristan have produced a free online guide for anyone who wants to try to achieve the same themselves.

Many people resist gardening not because the idea hasn’t occurred to them, but because they assume that growing vegetables is a time-consuming and exorbitant pursuit.

According to Anneli and Kristan, while home gardening is being heavily promoted as a way to save money and eat locally, with even the Obamas planting a White House “victory garden” for inspiration, gardening has evolved into a fairly upscale high-end hobby. Like golf or sailing, gardening, the way most people do it, can be quite expensive.

The average packet of seeds now costs $3 or $4, and growing a wide variety of produce requires dozens of packets. Pre-sprouted starter plants cost even more. Tools and gardening implements can be pricey. Fertilizer, soil treatments, gloves, stakes, trellises, wheelbarrows, sprinklers — when you add it all up, it becomes painfully obvious that growing your own produce can cost more than just buying it at the store.

Those without yards can even grow their food guerrilla-style on abandoned public land. With more ideas for how to get fertilizer, stakes and everything else you’ll need in the garden for free (or almost free), the no-cost gardening project is a new idea for a new era.

Check out the No-Cost Gardening guide here!

Related:

What is a Freegan?
Heirloom and heritage seeds
Composting tips
Vermicomposting (Worm farms)
Saving water in the garden